Hello - hope someone can help. I gave birth 2 weeks ago and had to have an episiotomy with forceps delivery. I was discharged from the hospital the next day and just told to take some ibuprofen for the pain if needed. A day or so after getting home I have been in agony and barely able to walk or sit. I've been taking short lavender and tea tree oil baths and some with Epsom salts too. I lie on a towel to air the stitches out after the baths. I've been washing after each time I go to the loo too. I've also had 4 midwives check the stitches for me and all of them have said that the stitches look "good" and aren't infected but just swollen. Each midwife gave different advice on pain relief though. I am now taking a combination of ibuprofen and paracetamol at regular intervals .
The pain seems to be getting worse though and is now unbearable and I am sick of crying every day and all the conflicting advice I am getting from the midwives.
Can someone advise me on the following n2 questions please:
- I am taking 2 paracetamol every 4 hours and 2 ibuprofen every 8 hours. When I take the 2 ibuprofen I take them together with 2 paracetamol (so 4 tablets at once). This is based on the latest advice from the midwife. The pain relief doesn't last long though! GP has advised me that because I am breastfeeding there is nothing else stronger that they can prescribe me.
- I bought some Emla cream from the pharmacy to numb the area and haven't used it yet. I did see someone mention on one of these threads that this shouldn't be used though. Any ideas why??
Thanks.